The present invention relates generally to a storage device, and more particularly, a storage system that can be hydraulically lifted from the bed of a truck or similar vehicle to provide improved access to the interior of the compartment.
The cargo carrying area of a pickup truck, van, sport utility or similar vehicle is often referred to as the “bed”. During certain types of transport it is desirable to include a storage container in a vehicle's bed to retain, for example, tools, equipment, supplies, groceries or other items to which ready and convenient access is necessary or desirable. A bed mounted toolbox represents one such storage container.
Many of the prior art bed-mounted storage containers are inconveniently positioned. For example, the positioning of some storage containers requires the user to lean over the sides of a truck bed to obtain a complete view of the contents. This design also makes it more difficult for items to be removed from the storage containers. Various configurations of prior-art storage containers are described herein.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,669 (1984) to Waters, U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,774 (1985) to Whatley and U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,944 (1990) to Waters, each disclose varying configurations of side-mounted toolboxes. Another configuration of a side-mounted toolbox enables the toolbox to slide along rails which are affixed to the top or insides of the vehicle's side panels; however, they too are difficult to access due to their height and the need to reach over the vehicle's tailgate or vehicle side panels. Similar side-mounted configurations are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,326 (1985) to Tuohy III, U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,992 (1987) to Hamilton et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,377 (1989) to Hughes, U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,636 (1992) to Barajas, U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,959 (1992) to King, U.S. Pat. No. 6,464,277 (2002) to Wilding, U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,174 (2002) to Lance and U.S. Pat. No. 6,607,230 (20003) to Voves. These devices also have the disadvantage of extending beyond the vehicle's side panels, thus in most cases effectively eliminating the vehicle's capability of supporting toppers and frequently adding to the overall width of the vehicle.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,722 (1999) to Parri, a sliding toolbox or drawer system is proposed. The primary innovation or Parri is that the mounting rails may be raised or lowered in fixed increments, whilst remaining within the confines of the vehicle bed. This system suffers from the aforementioned limitations of the other full length bed sliding systems, and requires significant effort to reconfigure the adjustable mounting rails.
Several other methods for moveable truck mounted toolboxes. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,987 (1995) Sturgis, an external box is affixed to a side panel inside the bed and the internal enclosure rotates out towards the rear of the bed. The disadvantages of this method are limited size, the permanently mounted stationary enclosure, and the difficult access reaching over the tailgate. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,015,177 (2000) to Tijerina, a toolbox is mounted on rails attached to the inner walls of the side panels that angle up and over the wheel arches. The disadvantages of this method are difficulty in accessing the enclosure, difficulty lifting the enclosure over the wheel arches, and the non-automatic closure of the enclosure in its normal travel position. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,203,087 (2001) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,422,629 (2002) both to Lance et al, rear or front floor-mounted enclosures that are removable are proposed. The disadvantages of these proposals are the limited size of the enclosure, limited utility of the enclosure, and in the front mounted case, the difficulty of access. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,976 (2001) to Coleman et al, a side panel mounted sliding and rotating enclosure is proposed. The disadvantages of this proposal are the difficulty is accessing the enclosure and intrusion of the rail system on other bed uses. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,354,647 (2002) to Voves, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,464,274 (2002) to Mink et al, sliding systems mounted to the floor of the bed are proposed. The disadvantages of these systems are they prevent using the bed for any other purposes, and the enclosure is not readily portable.
Several methods have been proposed for lifting storage containers. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,866 (1999) to Scheibel, a self-loading transporter is proposed. The primary objective of this device is moving, loading, and lifting a container into a vehicle. The disadvantages of this proposal are that it does not provide an anchored and ready access toolbox when in the vehicle, it does not provide workbench capabilities, and it prevents other uses of the bed when loaded. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,624 (1990) to West, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,969 (1994) to Simnacher, permanently fixed systems are proposed for hydraulically lifting a toolbox within the confines of a vehicle. However, West provides a hydraulically lifted sections of the storage container, which dramatically reduces the storage space available within the confines of the container. And while Simnacher provides access into the storage container at a better height, the majority of the interior portion of the container still is inaccessible.
All of the vehicle mounted toolbox systems are heretofore known suffer from some combination of the following disadvantages which include not allow for the use of the main bed for other normal purposes, inconvenient access to the contents of the toolboxes by virtue of mounting position, height, or reach and locking mechanism and subsequently the contents of the toolbox are not protected from tampering.